There's Only One Way But Up (When You Start in the Sewer)
by inugomefiend
Summary: Ladybug's earrings are stolen right in front of Cat Noir. He evens things out and romance ensues! Light angst, romance, fluff! Adrienette, LadyNoir. One-shot, complete.


The muscle-bound former sewage worker's yellow hard-hat had turned into a hard, golden-metallic mask and suit of armor over his head, face, shoulders, arms, chest, and back. His lower body was an angrily swirling, luminescent whirlpool of greenish-brown sewage. He shot smaller, thinner whirlpools under the control of his own will from his hands, blasting outward at people with them and leaving them incapacitated on the ground in a pile of goo they cannot get up from, as it seems to be extremely heavy and sticky for sewage, infused with Hawkmoth's given magic power-though he can also reverse the flow and suck instead. He is an ordinary sewage worker no more. He is now Sewer Rat, the latest Akuma victim terrorizing Paris.

Cat Noir and Ladybug are quickly on the scene, a short distance in front of him on the road, victims lying all over the streets and sidewalks.

"Cat Noir!" the duo's leader says to her partner. "Do you see that rim around his forehead? I think that was a hard-hat before he was Akumatized! That's probably where his Akuma is. I'll try to wrap him in my string while you get on top of him with your Cataclysm!"

"Aye-aye, Cap'n!" he replies.

Laybug swings her yoyo as Cat does a flip in the air. But Sewer Rat is surprisingly fast, and sprays his hand-geysers, one from each hand, at each of them, knocking the yoyo-and Cat Noir-down to the ground.

The new villain laughs. "You think you can defeat Sewer Rat? I am too powerful for you!"

With that, he continues sweeping down the street on his own personal hurricane as the superhero duo recover and begin chasing him.

"Sewer Rat!" Hawkmoth's voice calls to him. "What are you doing? You're supposed to take their Miraculous, not run away from them!"

"Keep your pantyhose on, Hawkmoth! I have a plan for them! But first...I see a few more people who think that working with waste is funny! I'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget!"

Cat Noir and Ladybug catch up to the Akuma victim, from behind, and Ladybug signals to Cat with a finger to her lips to be silent. She points at her yoyo and then the man's head, and Cat nods in understanding. Same plan, but this time as a sneak attack from behind. Cat flips into the air again, and once again Lady slings out her yoyo. "Cata-!"

But much to their equal surprise, the villain suddenly extends far into the air, stretching out and up on his whirlpool, making Lady's yoyo hit the whirlpool instead of lassoing his arms, and making the villain's head hit Cat Noir straight in the stomach. He falls to the ground, winded, and rolls away.

The cat rises to his feet just as the beetle recovers her yoyo string. "I think we need a little luck with this one, Milady!"

"You read my mind!" She slings her yoyo upward. "Luky-" A min-tornado of liquid blasts her yoyo out of the sky before she can complete the incantation!

"If you children want to play with me," Sewer Rat taunts, now facing them, "then you'll have to do it in my playground!" Then he disappears beneath a manhole cover in the street they are on.

"Quick, Cat Noir, into the drain!"

"You got it!"

The superheroes descend the drain as quickly as they can, sliding down the sides of the ladder until they hit the bottom, but Sewer Rat moves very fast on his whirlpool, and there are two ways to go.

"I see a glow to the right, Cat Noir!" Ladybug says.

"Let's go!"

They take off running after the deviant.

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The duo follow the glow around twists and turns, corner after corner, having no idea where they are going or how to get back to where they were. They are getting very lost.

Eventually, the light seems to stop moving, getting brighter and brighter as they approach it.

"Looks like he stopped," Cat says.

"Yeah. One more turn and we should be able to see him. But he knows we're coming. We need to be on our guard."

"Maybe you should use your Lucky Charm now."

"Good idea." She slings her yoyo upward again. "Lucky Charm!" Hurtling toward her comes a large-and very heavy-metal (though it is red with black polka dots) manhole cover! She catches it with an "oof," bending nearly to the floor. A falling manhole cover is tough even for someone with super strength!

They nod at each other, then turn the corner. There is a long corridor, and at the end of it, a circular room with a large cesspool in the middle of it, a walkway surrounding it, with no out other than the way they're taking in. Sewer Rat is hovering above the cesspool on his whirlpool, grinning at them.

"Welcome to my playground, kiddies!" he teases them.

They run down the hall unti they are nearly to the end of it where the floating Akuma victim awaits their attack.

As soon as they get close, he starts spewing at them simultaneously, one hand for each superhero. Ladybug raises the manhole cover up as a shield, which works great as a defense, but doesn't help with attack, as it takes both hands just to hold it, leaving her unable to use her yoyo-and she knows that throwing it at him is useless against his armor. She wonders how she's supposed to use it. Meanwhile, Cat spins his baton madly to fend of the spewing on his end, and hits Sewer Rat with it whenever he can, but his attacks are completely ineffective against the villain's shielding.

"You've got to use your Cataclysm, Cat!" Ladybug calls.

"On it!" He tries to flip onto the brute's head again, barely avoiding a fistful of goop, only for Sewer Rat to "size-up" and wind him again, once more making him fall.

"Wait a minute, Kitty!" cries Ladybug. "I think this is meant for you to use!" She wiggles the manhole cover, indicating that that's what she means.

Cat flips through the air again to put his baton back behind his back without getting sprayed, touches down long enough to grab the metal circle, then continues to flip around to get to a good angle to flip to Sewer Rat's head from-as well as to continue dodging his spray.

Sewer Rat continues to spray at Ladybug, who defends now by swinging her yoyo.

Then, just as Cat Noir flips to get on top of Sewer Rat's head, the anithero's heavy, sticky goo-spewing takes its toll on Ladybug's yoyo, weighing it down and dropping it to the floor, rendering it useless. Ladybug looks up in shock just as both of Sewer Rat's hands point right at her-and aim straight at her earrings. Cat Noir covers his stomach with the manhole cover to prepare for the move Sewer Rat keeps winding him with as he calls out, "Cataclysm!"-just as Sewer Rat jolts himself upward.

But Sewer Rat plucks out both of Ladybug's earrings with his spraying hands-reversed to suck in-just as Cat Noir finally lands his Cataclysm on the man's head, having not been winded from the sudden "size-up" this time because the manhole cover protected his stomach.

The sewer worker's transformation begins to drop as Cat Noir falls into the sludge-staring across the room at an undisguised Marinette DuPain-Cheng. He sees two glints of light heading toward the cesspool as he falls and grabs them on his way into the sludgepit, quickly realizing what they are.

A horrified Marinette can only stand there in stunned silence, watching an Akuma flutter around the room.

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The sewer worker wonders what he's doing swimming in a sea of sludge as Cat Noir gets out and heads toward Marinette. He offers her his hand, and helps her up. She looks absolutely miserable, paining his own heart.

He holds out his other hand. "Here're your earrings, Milady," he coos, trying to be supportive.

"Thanks, Kitty," she says sadly. She puts her earrings back in. "I have to cleanse that Akuma and fix everything."

"Let's get out of this room first," he answers, taking her by the hand and leading her into the hall.

"What about the worker?" asks Marinette, letting go Cat's hand. They are walking quickly, knowing the sewer worker will be coming out behind them, and she has to keep her identity hidden.

"He was too confused to notice you, Milady."

"We'd better hurry. He's right behind us, he'll see me."

With that, they quicken their pace, and soon they are in a different corridor. There is no sign of the sewage worker; he had to have gone a different way down in this maze. Cat's ring beeps for the final time.

"Y-you're going to change back, Cat Noir. You should get out of here. I'll change back into Ladybug, go find that Akuma, and then fix everything. I'll see you next time, ok?" She gives him a weak smile that hurts him to see. He knows how important it had been to her to keep their identities a secret.

"No. I'm staying with you."

"But you're going to de-transform! I'll see you!"

He smiles at her. "So? Don't you think turnabout is fair play?"

"No, I do not! You've got to keep your secret, still, no matter what! Learning mine was an unfortunate accident. Let's not make it worse by-"

"Too late!" Right before her eyes, a grinning Cat Noir fades out as Adrien Agreste fades in.

Marinette thinks to shut her eyes as the magic begins to swirl around her partner, but somehow the mental command doesn't make it to her eyelids. She is shocked by who now stands before her.

"A-Adrien?"

"In the flesh!" His smile hasn't faded.

"B-but...you're...so...d-different...how..."

"We'll talk later, Bugaboo. Right now we need Ladybug, ok?" He gives her an irresistable smile.

"O-okay," she says with a blushing smile of her own. With that she transforms back into Ladybug and returns down the hallways they had come from. The sewage worker is long gone (of course he knew his way around better than they do) but she does manage to locate the Akuma. She cleanses it, resets everything, and then turns to Adrien.

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"Well, now that you know, Cat...Adrien...it can't hurt to do this anymore. Spots off!" She drops her transformation. Then she opens her purse to let a little red-and-black Kwami peek out, already munching on a cookie.

"This is Tikki, Adrien."

"Nice to meet you, Tikki!"

"You too, Adrien!" she smiles at him.

"Oh, and this is Plagg!" He opens his shirt to reveal his own Kwami, also already munching.

"Hi there Plagg," Marinette says with a smile.

"Hello again, Ladybug! Er, uh, Marinette. Hi Sugarcube!"

Tikki sighs and slumps her shoulders. "Yeah, we sorta already know each other, Adrien."

The boy giggles. He can totally see himself and Ladybug in Plagg and Tikki.

"I can't believe you're Cat Noir, Adrien..." Ladybug says, too stunned to be nervous, thus her perfect speech.

"Well, the mask, the freedom, the enhanced abilities...kinda gives you a little confidence boost, ya know? I mean surely you of all people know something about that." He gives her a pink-cheeked smile.

"Uh...maybe? I never really thought about it, actually." She returns his smile, her own cheeks turning color.

"Well there are some differences between you and Ladybug too, ya know, and I'm sure that's because of the things I just mentioned. But honestly, there are a whole lot more similarities-so many, in fact, that I'm shocked at how blind I've been all this time! I should have known! How did I not figure out who you were?"

Ladybug giggles. "Well, we should probably return home before we are missed. But we'll need to transform first. Word will have gotten around now that our fight with Sewer Rat went underground; two teenagers coming out of the sewer onto the streets after the fight will look suspicious."

"Right you are, Bugaboo. But...I'd really like to talk to you some more. Can I...can I see you again? Tonight, on top of Montparnasse Tower? It's a great city view at night..."

Cat Noir, she would normally turn down. But Adrien? "W-well, I don't see why not."

Adrien smiles. "Terrific! See you at say, midnight? Everyone should be in bed by then, right? I mean I know that's a little on the late side, but it's Friday night, people stay up later. Is that...manageable?"

"Sure, I can handle that." She smiles at him.

"Great!" He gives her one last grin. "Plagg, claws out!"

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Marinette lies on her bed even though it's not even dinnertime yet. She ponders the shocking secret she learned just a short while ago.

I cannot believe that my precious Adrien is Cat Noir! I never would have guessed that! They aren't much alike, after all. But...how does this change things? Cat Noir has feelings for Ladybug...but what about Marinette? Was he disappointed that she turned out to be me? Have his feelings for me changed because of this? I mean Adrien never had any feelings for Marinette, after all. How does he feel about me now? And what about how I feel? I've always pushed Cat Noir away; I always found his antics annoying. Now that I know who he is...will that change? Or will I stop having feelings for Adrien because he is Cat Noir?

She sighs, burying her face in her pillow. All she can seem to feel right now is confusion. This whole thing is just such a shock to her system.

WAIT JUST A FREAKIN' MINUTE! I TOLD CAT NOIR I WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM! WHAT DO I DO NOW? I mean...as Ladybug I told him I was in love with someone else, and I told him as Marinette that I loved him! If he thinks about that, he's going to know I lied about one or the other, and he's going to want to know the truth! What in the world am I supposed to say? Do I confess to him that I love him as Adrien but it was a lie when I said that to him as Cat Noir? How do I reconcile those two when they've turned out to be the same guy? What in the world do I tell him?! Is there any way to avoid that conversation? I'd rather not answer just yet! Oh my God, what on earth am I supposed to do now? And I have to see him tonight! What if he straight up asks me? I have no idea what to say!

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Meanwhile, Adrien is doing some contemplation of his own while he pretends to practice piano. But rather than hide his face in his pillow, he talks to his Kwami.

"Can you believe it, Plagg? I finally got my wish! I know who my Ladybug is, and there are no more secrets between us now! I was surprised to find out she's Marinette, but I can't say I'm disappointed, and frankly, it shouldn't have been a surprise at all. Marinette is everything I always loved about Ladybug, just without all the credit. She's truly an amazing girl. I can't think of a better person to be her. And it doesn't change how I feel. I can finally see the face of the woman I love, minus the mask!"

"Ew, I think I'm going to heave! Please stop talking like that, kid."

"But...what do you think she thinks of me now that she knows how I am? I mean I know Ladybug always said she was in love with another guy, but Marinette...WAIT! MARINETTE CONFESSED TO ME, PLAGG! DID YOU HEAR ME? SHE TOLD ME SHE LOVED ME!" Adrien would be shaking Plagg's shoulders if it were physically possible.

"Whoa, calm down, kid! No need to bust my eardrums!"

"Wait...they can't both be true! Then...which is it? How does Ladybug-Marinette-actually feel about me? I mean as Cat Noir or Adrien? Or, uh, both?" He lets out a long, exhasperated sigh. "Do you think I should just ask her Plagg? I mean, one of those statements is a lie, and I really need to know which one it is. And why she lied to me. Because it's not like her to lie, as Marinette or Ladybug. I'm sure she had some reason for it. But...I've got to know how she really feels about me, one way or another. What do you think, Plagg?"

"Makes no difference to me, kid. Ask, don't ask...I'm sure the truth will come out eventually, either way. You humans just can't resist talking about your feelings!"

"Hm, maybe you're right. After all, I don't want to pressure her or scare her off. I'll just leave it alone for now, I think."

"Well, I'm glad you got that settled. Now that you're through pining, can I have some more Camembert?"

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That night, Ladybug finds Cat Noir waiting for her on top of Montparnasse Tower. Her heartbeat picks up at the sight of him, knowing who's behind that mask now. She's suddenly hyper-aware of that fact as she approaches him-now able to see Adrien in those green eyes and blond hair-making her even more nervous than usual. Especially with the thought-storm she had had just a few hours earlier. She crosses her fingers that no dicey subjects will come up during this little visit.

"H-hi there, Cat Noir," she says as she takes a seat next to him, hanging her feet over the edge of the roof. "Or wait, sh-should I c-call you Adrien?"

"Either one is fine, Bugaboo," he says with a smile. He's glad she came, no matter how she feels about him now.

"Y-you're right, it's a view city lovely. I mean a lovely city view!"

He giggles at her "Marinette-ness." He wonders why she never stuttered like that before as Ladybug and Cat Noir, but does as Marinette and Adrien. What is it about Adrien that makes her so nervous? Do I scare her? Or does she talk to everyone like that as Marinette? I guess there are still things I need to learn about her...

"H-hey, Adrien? Could I...um...something ask you? I mean, could I ask you something?" Her face flushes terribly, and she stares straight ahead to avoid his gaze.

"Of course, Milady. Anything." He can't see her eyes, but he can tell by her breathing that she's really nervous. She's afraid of his answer.

"Are you...disa-nevermind." She looks down with a sigh. "I don't think I want to know the answer to that," she adds in a whisper, talking more to herself than to Adrien.

"Am I...disappointed?" Not really realizing she had said that second sentence out loud, and surprised that he guessed what she was going to say when she stopped herself, Marinette looks up at Adrien with her mouth slightly ajar, her cheeks turning pink again. He meets her wide eyes.

"The answer is no, Marinette. Not in the slightest. The only thing that's different for me here is...now I know your real name. In fact...I was hoping I could I see you as you normally are. Do you mind if we de-transform?"

Marinette smiles. Does that mean he has feelings for me in both of my forms?! "Not all at. I mean not at all. Tikki, spots off."

"Plagg, claws in."

"Aw, it's good to be in the outside world again!" says a little floating black kitten.

Tikki giggles. "Plagg, why don't we admire the view over there?" She points to the far side of the building.

"Why, what's wrong with here?"

"I think our holders would like some privacy."

"Anything you say, Sugarcube!"

Tikki sighs, slumping her shoulders. Marinette and Adrien both giggle at their Kwamis.

Alone again, Adrien smiles sweetly at Marinette. There is no confusion on his end; knowing she is his Lady and having been a close friend of Marinette's for such a long time just meld together quite perfectly in his mind.

Marinette smiles back at him. She's still a little unsure about if her feelings have changed or not considering his alter ego, but she's grateful that at least he still wants to be with her-as her regular, every-day, non-superhero self-not just as Ladybug.

But Adrien isn't sure about Marinette's feelings any more than she is. "Well what about you, Marinette? Are you disappointed in who I turned out to be? I mean, are you disappointed that I'm Adrien Agreste?" His eyes reflect his worry.

"N-no, I can't say that I am, actually..." Her answer comes quick and sure despite her doubt. It seems her heart knows things her confused mind does not. She gives Adrien a smile.

Adrien smiles back. He's relieved to hear her say that, though he notes that she sounds surprised at her own answer.

"Um...can I ask you another question, Adrien?" Ladybug says meekly.

"Shoot."

"When your Akumatized got bodyguard, I mean when your bodyguard got Akumatized, I you saw as Adrien and...wait, I saw you as Adrien...and as Cat Noir. At the time same. Er, uh, at the same time. How did you pull that off?" Seeing him without a mask-his or hers-makes her even more nervous than she usually is around Adrien and she stumbles over her words.

"Well, there was this fan. I mean, an Adrien fan. I swapped clothes with him, put the helmet on his head, and then put a cardboard cut-out of my face inside it so he'd look like me from a distance. Ingenious, right?" He winks at her. Now she sees his Cat Noir quite well, even without the mask. She wonders how it is that she never saw his "Noir" side before as Adrien, or his sensitive Adrien side as Cat Noir-or at least, not much, on the latter, because there was that one time when she stood him up when he had a special date planned for Ladybug. She saw his sensitive side then.

"Do...do you any questions have me for?" Marinette asks. "I mean do you...have any questions for me?"

"Well...kinda, yeah. But they can wait for another day. Let's just admire the view for a little while longer before we have to go back home. I mean it is pretty late."

"Right," she answers, glad he wasn't actually asking her any questions, because she thinks she knows what some of them are, and she doesn't have real answers to give him yet. But she does want to spend time with Adrien, so she's glad he isn't calling it a night quite yet, either.

"Don't you think Paris is beautiful at night, Milady?" Marinette loves that he still calls her by her affectionate nicknames even out of costume.

"Oh, yes. Very so much. I mean very much so."

Adrien wants to take her hand, but not knowing the extent of her feelings for him, he doesn't want to push his luck. So the pair just enjoy the view in comfortable silence for a while, both smiling and happy to be there with the other, before they say their good-nights and head home.

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That night, Adrien lies awake in his bed, contemplating Ladybug and Marinette. I'm happy that she said she wasn't disappointed in who Cat Noir turned out to be, but that doesn't answer the question of what her true feelings are for either or both of me. I wonder who this "other guy" is if she really still loves another boy like Ladybug told me, or if she loves Cat Noir as Marinette confessed. I held back tonight because I didn't want to pressure her or scare her off, but I need answers. I'm going to have to ask her about that before long. But I am nonetheless very grateful that at the very least there are no more secrets between us. That's a great start! He smiles, feeling hopeful, and then tries to put it all out of his mind to get some sleep.

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At the same time, Marinette is thinking about Cat Noir and Adrien. I still love Adrien-as evidenced by my inability to speak properly around him. And I know that Cat Noir is Adrien, but I'm still having a hard time seeing them both as the same person. I always pushed Cat away because some of his behavior was a little irritating, and I told him I loved another boy, because I didn't know Adrien was beneath that mask. Yet I answered him so quickly when he asked if I was disappointed! My brain may be having a hard time blending the two personalities, but I think maybe my heart has already done it.

But...he's bound to have thought about the inconsistency of what I've told him as Ladybug and as Marinette by now; why didn't he ask me tonight? Why didn't he straight up ask me if I was lying about the other boy or about being in love with Cat Noir? I mean, I didn't want him to ask just yet, but I would have expected him to nonetheless.

And he seems to accept me-Marinette me-as Ladybug so easily! It sure does look like he still has feelings for me, as a two-in-one person. I mean he was quick to tell me that he wasn't disappointed and that the reveal didn't change how he felt! I mean, he asked me to de-transform! Still, I'm not absolutely sure. Neither Cat Noir nor Adrien has spent a whole lot of time with Marinette, after all. Can I really trust his insinuation that he loves me as both personalities? She lets out a long, tired sigh; then closes her eyes and tries to put AdriCat out of her mind for now. She needs sleep, and now it's very late.

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The next day, Ladybug and Cat Noir are called upon once more to defend the city against an Akumatized person-an electrician who had been replacing wires between two electric poles. His protective gloves had grown up to his elbows and his rubber-soled boots up to his knees-and wrapped around his stomach and chest were the two wires, two inches in diameter each with thick shielding, held together with zip-ties-slinking down his right arm and opening up into his right hand. He's sucking in electricity from other power sources-other power lines, buildings, even houses-and shooting out of his wires electric blasts that look for all the world like lightning bolts at anything that he deems to be in his way, people included (though none so far have been hit directly). Every shot blows up concrete and stone, in streets and buildings, and sets fire to wooden houses. He calls himself ElectriCutioner.

The superhero team heads him off just as he's about to turn a corner. He shoots at them, but they jump away just in time, a pile of upturned street where they had just been standing.

"His Akuma has to be in the wires or the hard-hat, A-Cat Noir!" shouts Ladybug to her partner. "I'll try to grab that arm, and you get his hat off!"

"Purrfect plan, Milady!"

Marinette giggles in spite of their dire situation-and Adrien smiles. That's a first! he thinks to himself.

Electriutioner has turned the corner by now, so the duo is behind him. Thus Ladybug jumps in front of him and yoyo's the man's firing arm. She gives the cord a yank and the man stumbles forward, but does not fall. Cat Noir, still behind him, takes this opportunity to knock off the hat and send it rolling it Ladybug's way. But then Electricutioner jerks back the arm that just GOT jerked, and sends Ladybug stumbling forward, and her cord releases the villain's arm. She does acrobatics to avoid his shots as she grabs the hat, the man's lightning-bolt attacks landing on the street and sidewalk, blowing up cars and roadway and all-whilst Cat tries to attack from behind, but hitting the man's back does nothing because of the wires' thick shielding, and hitting his head only makes him angrier. He turns around to face Cat, but Cat quickly runs around him to retake his place at Ladybug's side in the front. She stomps the hat she now has underfoot, breaking it, but no black butterfly emerges.

"Must be the wires, Cat! I'll try to pull that arm back again; you try to land a blow onto his chest!"

He nods with a smile. "This guy is furocious, Milady! But we can do it!"

Ladybug giggles again, and Cat Noir catches it before he launches his attack. She actually likes my cat puns? What gives?

Then Cat Noir jumps out of the way as another shot comes flying at him, blowing up a car. Ladybug grabs ElectiCutioner's firing arm again and tries to pull it back while Cat Noir gets ready to attack. He takes off, ready to smash into the miscreant's chest with his baton as soon as he gets closer. He could extend the pole, but the longer it is, the more force is lost in the jab, so he wants to keep it short-range.

But things don't go as planned. ElectriCutioner is stronger than Ladybug and uses his wrapped arm to swing her into Cat Noir as he's running forward, making them both tumble.

Once back on their feet again, Cat continues to charge ElectriCutioner as Ladybug tries to wrap around his feet. Cat manages to land blows to the man's chest, but the wires do not break, and this opponent is surprisingly clever and quick-jumping up when Ladybug's string comes near his feet, every time.

"Well, LB," Cat begins, "Looks like we need a little luck! You do that and I'll get him to paws for a minute!" He grins at his own pun and Ladybug smiles at it, covering her mouth. Then he begins to taunt the Akuma victim to keep his attention focused on him instead of Ladybug to give her time, using acrobatics to escape the shots (he thought to use his baton, but being made of metal, it would function as a lightning rod and probably kill him) coming his way.

Then Ladybug makes her incantation as she tosses her yoyo into the air. "Lucky Charm!"

She grabs the red-and-black polka-dotted rubber inner tube with a look of confusion. How am I supposed to use this against him?

So until she figures out what to do with it-nothing is showing up in her Ladybug vision except the inner tube, Cat Noir, and the bad guy they are fighting-she carries it (unwieldy though it is, it's so large) in one hand, swinging her yoyo in a protective circle with the other. She decides to try to see if her yoyo can break the wires around ElectriCutioner's chest where Cat's pole had failed. She yells to her partner to keep him busy. So he begins to taunt the man again, bragging about his own strength and overall "awesomeness" like he normally does, drawing his fire as she gets close enough to land the blow. She finally manages to hit him straight in the chest with her yoyo, but there is no effect. Then, finally, it dawns on her what she's supposed to do.

"Cat! Come over here!"

He nods, then flips his way over to her, getting behind her since he can't use his baton to defend against ElectriCutioner's lightning bolt attacks directly, both behind a large tree. She tells him her simple plan, and he calls on his Cataclysm.

Cat then moves off to the side and begins to taunt ElictriCutioner to draw his attention. Simultaneously, Ladybug gets closer to him with the oversized black "doughnut" out in front of her. But the villain doesn't fall for it. He ignores the taunter he had been shooting at and faces front again, sending a bolt Ladybug's way. She holds up the rubber circle in front of her, and the shocking attack lands right on it, rendering the powerful attack useless! She yells to Cat Noir to get behind her, since the villain won't fall for a distraction ruse. She runs closer and closer to the troublemaker, Cat behind her, deflecting all the attacks with the round rubber river-topper.

Finally, she gets close enough to execute her last move-shoving the inner tube over ElectriCutioner's head, cinching his arms to his side and preventing him from shooting any more attacks out! Then Cat Noir employs his finishing move, disintegrating the wirey armor around the man's chest with his Cataclysm, freeing a black Akuma.

Ladybug cleanses the akuma and undoes all the damage-putting out a lot of fires on the streets of Paris-and the team bumps their fist together wtih a "pound it!"

"Ladybug, I'd really like to talk with you, but I have to go to my fencing class. That's not something I can fake with my phone, ya know?"

"Of course, Kitty. I will um...see you thater len. I mean I'll see you later then." She smiles at him with tinted cheeks, embarrassed that she's having difficulty talking to him even when they both have their masks on. He smiles back, then jumps away on his pole.

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Later that day, Adrien talks to his Kwami in his bedroom.

"Plagg, Ladybug laughed at my cat puns today! Are they somehow funnier coming from Adrien?"

"How should I know?"

"I wonder if she's warming up to me...what do you think, Plagg?"

"I think I'm hungry. How about some cheese?"

"I need to ask her about that other guy, and her confession to me. I was going to wait a while longer, but...I need to know. I think I'll do it the next time I see her."

"Whatever."

"I'm kind of nervous though. I mean I think I know what she'll say-her confession to Cat Noir was the lie, for whatever reason-but I don't want to hear that. I can't help but hope that somewhere down the line her feelings changed and that lucky other boy exited the scene. I can't help but hope that she has feelings for me now, and I'm not looking forward to hearing otherwise."

"You'd be surprised, kid."

"That's what I'm hoping for, Plagg."

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Meanwhile, Marinette is turning over a few thoughts of her own.

I laughed at Cat Noir's cat puns today! They suddenly seemed so funny. And his showing off didn't irritate me like usual. The only reason has to be that it's because I know who he really is. I know Adrien isn't really self-involved or cocky. And he normally doesn't make silly jokes or act goofy. All of that comes from the confidence and freedom of the mask, just like he said in the sewer. I can see Adrien behind Cat Noir's mask now. I mean really see him. And my feelings haven't changed. I definitely still love him, in both forms. I have to tell him. I mean I've been trying to for forever, but I've never been successful. I've got to try again.

But I'm still unsure of his feelings for me. He said he loved me as Ladybug, and he says now that he's not disappointed in me and that the only difference for him now is that he knows my name. But I'm not so sure. I mean before he revealed himself to me, we didn't get to spend a lot of time together. I don't know if he was really able to reconcile both of my personalities so fast. Although, I just did, so maybe...oh, I'm afraid to hope for it, because...what if I'm wrong? No, no, no. I am not going to let myself go down that road! I am going to stay positive! And I am going to tell Adrien how I feel the next time I see him, no matter how he feels for me!

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The next day is Sunday-a long, slow day with nothing much going on. Marinette is ill at ease all day in spite of that, feeling a terrible anticipation. She desperately wants to see Adrien again, but she lacks the courage to go to his house. She picks up her phone to call him a dozen times, but chickens out every time. Finally, after dinner with her family, she gives up on the idea and heads to her room.

"I guess I'll have wait until tomorrow to see him, at school," she says to her Kwami. "That won't be easy; there's still so much left unsaid between us. How am I going to get through the whole day with him like that, Tikki?"

"You're strong, Marinette! I know you'll handle it just fine. You can even set up a time to talk in private, and get your true feelings out then. Right?"

"Sure, Tikki. Although I'll die from embarrassment! Why do I have to be so darn shy around Adrien, anyway?"

They both giggle at that. But then Marinette hears a knock on her rooftop trapdoor. "Oh my God it's him, Tikki!" she whisper-yells. "What do I do?"

"Invite him in, silly!"

She clears her throat, stands tall, and pats down her braids with her hands to check for loose hairs. Finally, she opens the door.

"H-hi there, Cat-Adrien. H-how you are? I mean, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Marinette. And you?"

"Oh, fine, fine. Um...won't you seat a have? I mean have a seat!"

Adrien giggles. "Plagg, claws out." He de-transforms; then takes a seat on her chaise lounge as Marinette sits on her bed.

"Plagg, why don't you and Tikki go admire the view from the balcony for a little while?" says Adrien to his Kwami.

"What? Admire the view, like I care!"

Tikki's eyebrows knit together. She grabs Plagg by his arm. "Come on, you stinky sock, this way!"

"Well, if you want to, I guess I can tolerate it, Sugarcube."

"Ugh."

With that, the two Kwamis disappear through the closed trapdoor to give Adrien and Marinette their privacy.

"We'll have to keep our voices down, Adrien. If my parents find out that I smuggled a boy into my bedroom without permission I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!"

"Gotcha! I'll keep it down. Plus, I have a lot of experience with hiding fast if I should hear someone coming up the ladder." He gives Marinette a half-smile and a wink. She can see his Cat Noir now with or without the mask. Her feelings are sure now. She just has to find a way-hopefully without stuttering-to tell him so. Plus, she knows Adrien has some hard questions for her; she's not looking forward to telling him she lied to his face just to keep her secret. She worries if he'll hold that against her. All of the above makes for a very nervous Marinette, though she's trying hard to hide it.

"W-well," Marinette begins. "Wh-what about you wanted to see me? Wait, I mean um, wh-what did you want to me see about? Er, want to see me about?"

"Well, I do have some questions I hafta ask, but mostly, I just wanted to see you." He grins at her, melting her heart.

"Y-you...really wanted...to see me?" She speaks slowly, helping her to keep from stuttering.

"Of course, Milady!" he says with a smile.

"L-listen, Adrien. I um...I think I you know what I want, um I mean, I think I know what you want...to ask me. I'll questions spare you. I mean I'll spare you the questions! You see, um, I lied. To you, as Cat Noir. When I confessed my love. I that said just, I mean I just said that, because I thought you onto me were. I mean I thought you were onto me. I had to you keep, I mean I had to keep you, from mearning ly secret. I mean learning my secret. But it now matter doesn't! Er, uh, it doesn't matter now!" She smiles widely at him, but he looks a bit disappointed, though not exactly surprised.

"I understand. But then that means...that you were telling the truth when you said you were in love with someone else. May I...may I know who this lucky guy I'm competing with is?"

Marinette thinks to herself how those words seem to indicate that he has indeed blended both her personalities just fine and has feelings for both of her! She felt bad when she admitted her lie, knowing it had hurt him, but she believes that once she tells him the truth about the "other boy" it will restore his happiness-or so she hopes.

"Then...does that mean...that you still lo-have feelings for me? I mean, as Ladybug? I mean, after...learning she is me?" She thinks absentmindedly about how that was probably a record for her on getting a full sentence out in front of Adrien (though she only did it by slowing down her response)-especially for such a personal topic.

Adrien smiles. "Yes. AND Marinette. Both of you! After all, you're both the same person, and not so much different. All the qualities of Ladybug that I love, you have too. You truly are one and the same with Ladybug, Marinette. My feelings for you haven't changed...Milady." He smiles widely at her, his cheeks pink.

Marinette's heart races! Of all the people in the world, her precious Adrien has feelings for her! BOTH of her! "W-well," she replies, red-faced and forcing herself to maintain eye contact, "the truth is...that other boy, Adrien...is you. I didn't know...that you were...both the same guy. But you...are the other guy...that I was talking about. The truth is...Adrien...I love you!" She squeezes her eyes shut in embarrassment.

Adrien's ocular orbs are saucer-sized-a slight sheen to those eyes-and his mouth slightly ajar. He is in disbelief, but so happy it almost hurts!

"Y-you love me? You really...love me, Milady?"

She opens her eyes and nods her head slowly, smiling.

"And...what about me being Cat Noir?"

"I love that side of you too, I've come to realize." The conversation had gotten so suddenly serious that she forgets to be nervous again and speaks correctly even without slowing down her responses.

Adrien lets out a big, relieved sigh. Then he gets up, walks over to Marinette, pulls her up by her arm from her bed, and tugs her into a tight embrace. "I love you too, Marinette," he whispers into her ear. He can feel her smile against his chest.

After a lengthy embrace, Adrien moves his head back just a little. Marinette looks up at him with shimmering eyes. He takes both of her cheeks into his hands, slowly inching forward, and then lands a smooth, lingering kiss to her lips. Two hearts soar in tandem. The world dissolves around them as if they were the only people who exist in the universe, and to them, that's exactly the truth at this moment. After a blissful and time-slowed minute, Adrien releases Marinette's lips. He smiles at her with pink cheeks, and she follows suit.

"I've waited so long to do that, Marinette."

"Me too, Adrien."

"Well, then I guess all that's left is for me to officially ask you...will you be my girlfriend, Marinette?"

"What do you think?" she says with a grin. After confessing to Adrien and kissing him-winning his heart at last-she is no longer nervous around him, and thus conquers her fumbling speech, even without slowing her responses or being influenced by the gravity of the conversation.

"I take that as a yes."

"Wait...people are going to want to know how we got together but we obviously can't tell the whole truth. What should we say happened?"

"Hm, well...it really started in the sewers and went up from there, but we can't say that, so...how about we just say that we bumped into each other at Montparnasse Tower and I asked you out there?"

"You think people will buy that? I mean it is partly true, but we have no choice but to leave out certain details. I'm not sure that story has enough detail to convince people..."

"Then I'll say I'll asked you on a date there-which I kind of did-and we got together after the second date-this one. That's pretty believable, right? It's pretty much true; we simply left out the details that we can't divulge."

"Alya's going to want specifics, like where we went and what we did, or talked about."

"At the Tower we talked about Ladybug and Cat Noir and touched upon possible feelings for each other. Then we had a surprise second date at your house when we got all our feelings out in the open, and I asked you out. Is that enough detail?"

Marinette smiles. "Yes, I think that will do nicely. You're smartly devious, aren't you?"

Adrien laughs. "I just want to make sure no one else learns our secrets, that's all. But I don't want to hide my relationship with you to do it." He smiles at her again.

Marinette smiles back. "Thank you, Adrien, for everything. But you should go now before my parents come up here or wonder why I'm not coming down."

"Gotcha." With that, he kisses her again, both of them thinking how this will never get old. Then they say their good-byes, albeit reluctantly, and Adrien leaves as Cat Noir.

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After Adrien leaves, Marinette calls Alya, who is thrilled for her best friend! She grills Marinette for details, but Marinette covers for any missing details by telling Alya that it all happened so fast, it's dreamlike and fuzzy, which Alya buys. The redhead congratulates Marinette on finally catching her dream guy!

Adrien also calls Nino, as he knows his best friend will want to know about this too. He doesn't pressure Adrien for more details. He simply offers him his congratulations and tells him he chose a wonderful girl to date.

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The next day, Adrien and Marinette arrive at school together, walking to their lockers holding hands. Alya comes up to them, absolutely gushing her approval and joy for them, and Nino (standing next to her) bumps Adrien's free fist. But by now word has spread through half the school, and Chloe approaches the foursome to see for herself if the rumor she has heard is true. She sees them talking to their best friends next to the lockers-still hand-in-hand. The rumors are indeed true!

With a fearsome look on her face, Chloe forces her way past Alya and Nino to position herself right in front of the new couple. "What do you think you're doing with my Adrikins, DuPain-Cheng!" she spits, her head tilting to the right and left on Marinette's name for emphasis.

Marinette begins to stammer at her, unsure what exactly to say. "Um...well...you see..." But Adrien squeezes her hand, making her look up at him. He's smiling down at her, slightly shaking his head, telling her not to confront Chloe. He intends to talk to her himself.

"Chloe," he says with tenderness in his voice, "Marinette is my girlfriend now..." He puts his free hand on her shoulder. "But I am still your friend, too. That will never change, I give you my word. However, I would very much appreciate it if you'd treat the girl I'm dating with a little respect, ok?" He smiles at her.

She stares back for a moment, realizing that Marinette-however she did it-has really succeeded in winning the boy's heart. There is nothing she can do about it now. Her face shows sadness for a moment as that thought sinks in, but it quickly turns to a look of anger. "Ridiculous!" she cries. "Absolutely ridiculous!" With that, she stomps away to go find Sabrina-the only real supporter she has in this matter.

Marinette is troubled. She knows how Chloe cares for Adrien-perhaps the ONLY person she really cares about. She looks up at the blond holding her hand, a question in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Mil-Marinette. She'll be ok. I'm still her friend, like I told her, and she also has Sabrina. Plus, I don't think anybody is tougher than she is. She will be ok, I promise. Alright?"

Marinette smiles. "Alright. Let's go to class, then, shall we?"

"Of course." They then both walk into class, hand-in-hand, ignoring Chloe's icy stares. Everyone in the school is happy for the pair, save Chloe and her best friend-and no one is happier for them than they are themselves. Each of them has found the missing pieces of themselves. They now feel complete, and stronger and happier than ever before. Marinette finally got her precious Adrien to love her, and Cat Noir finally stole his Ladybug's heart.


End file.
